So what? Are you looking for love or to make money? Everybody "loves" whatever product they bought, even if it it's bad.

I talked to the coworkers extensively and was simplifying their response. It was far more than "Do you like him?", "Yeah", "Ok, thanks".

First, I would ask him HOW he gets "higher returns with lower volatility". What is his strategy?

I will most definitely get the details and offer them up for discussion.

Frankly, it's not all that impressive to have beaten the S&P500 over the last 10 years, since the S&P just went thru a 10-year period that went essentially nowhere. Depends on the exact dates he's quoting. Is it some specific dates 10 years apart, or is it handwaving ten-ish years. More importantly, is he comparing to S&P500 WITH DIVIDENDS, or without? I bet it's without, because all the charts you see are always raw price without dividends.

His 10 year return for a portfolio size I'm looking at was 9.79% ending in March with a lower dip in 2009. Again, after fees. By my calculations, that's over a percent better than the S&P with dividends.

Like others here, I'm skeptical. That's why I'm posting. My thought is to give him a chunk of money (after getting more details of course) and have him earn my trust. I worked with a broker 15 years ago who lied to me so I pulled all my money. I should be able to do the same with this guy.